UEFA Europa League 2017-18
The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League will be the 47th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 9th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2018 UEFA Europa League Final will be played at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Décines-Charpieu, France. The winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League will automatically qualify for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage, and also earn the right to play against the winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup. Association team allocation A total of 191 teams from all 55 UEFA member associations are expected to participate in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association: *Associations 1–51 (except Liechtenstein) each have three teams qualify. *Associations 52–54 each have two teams qualify. *Liechtenstein and Kosovo each have one team qualify (Liechtenstein organises only a domestic cup and no domestic league; Kosovo as per decision by the UEFA Executive Committee). *Moreover, 33 teams eliminated from the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League are transferred to the Europa League. Starting from this season, Gibraltar are granted two spots instead of one in the Europa League.Kosovo, who became a UEFA member on 3 May 2016, will make their debut in the UEFA Europa League, as long as their club passes the licensing requirements. Association ranking For the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2016 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2011–12 to 2015–16. Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below: * – Additional teams transferred from the Champions League | | |} Distribution The table below shows the default access list. The access list above is provisional, as changes will need to be made in the following cases: *If the Champions League title holders or the Europa League title holders have qualified for the Europa League through domestic performance, their berth in the Europa League will be vacated (not replaced by another team from the same association), and cup winners of the highest-ranked associations will be moved to a later round accordingly. *If changes to the access list of the Champions League are made, the number of losers of the Champions League third qualifying round which are transferred to the Europa League may be increased or decreased from the default number of 15, which means changes to the access list of the Europa League will also need to be made. *Because a maximum of five teams from one association can enter the Champions League, if both the Champions League title holders and the Europa League title holders are from the same top three ranked association and finish outside the top four of their domestic league, the fourth-placed team of their association will be moved to the Europa League, which means changes to the access list of the Europa League will also need to be made. Redistribution rules A Europa League place is vacated when a team qualifies for both the Champions League and the Europa League, or qualifies for the Europa League by more than one method. When a place is vacated, it is redistributed within the national association by the following rules (regulations Articles 3.03 and 3.04): *When the domestic cup winners (considered as the "highest-placed" qualifier within the national association with the latest starting round) also qualify for the Champions League, their Europa League place is vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions qualify for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finish above them in the league moved up one "place". *When the domestic cup winners also qualify for the Europa League through league position, their place through the league position is vacated. As a result, the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions qualify for the Europa League, with the Europa League qualifiers which finish above them in the league moved up one "place" if possible. *For associations where a Europa League place is reserved for the League Cup winners, they always qualify for the Europa League as the "lowest-placed" qualifier. If the League Cup winners have already qualified for European competitions through other methods, this reserved Europa League place is taken by the highest-placed team in the league which have not yet qualified for European competitions. Teams The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: *CW: Cup winners *2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position *LC: League Cup winners *RW: Regular season winners *PW: End-of-season European competition play-offs winners *UCL: Transferred from the Champions League **GS: Third-placed teams from the group stage **PO: Losers from the play-off round **Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round } | | | |- | | | | |- !colspan=4|Group stage |- | Villarreal | Vitória de Guimarães | Lugano | Astana |- | Real Sociedad | Lyon | Fastav Zlín | Hapoel Be'er Sheva |- | 1. FC Köln | Lokomotiv Moscow | Copenhagen | İstanbul Başakşehir |- | Hertha BSC | Zorya Luhansk | Slavia Prague | Young Boys |- | Arsenal | Zulte Waregem | Rijeka | Nice |- | Atalanta | Vitesse | 1899 Hoffenheim |rowspan=2| |- | Lazio | Konyaspor | Steaua Bucureşti |- !colspan=4|Play-off round |- | BATE Borisov | Rosenborg | Sheriff Tiraspol | Dynamo Kyiv |- | Legia Warsaw | Ludogorets Razgrad | Partizan | AEK Athens |- | FH | Viitorul Constanţa | Viktoria Plzeň | Club Brugge |- | Vardar | Red Bull Salzburg | Ajax | |- !colspan=4|Third qualifying round |- | Athletic Bilbao | Bordeaux | PSV Eindhoven | CS U Craiova |- | SC Freiburg | Zenit Saint Petersburg | Fenerbahçe | Austria Wien |- | Everton | Krasnodar | Sion | Dinamo Zagreb |- | Milan | Olimpik Donetsk | Sparta Prague | Arka Gdynia |- | Braga | FC Oleksandriya | PAOK |rowspan=3| |- | Marítimo | Gent | Panathinaikos |- | Marseille | Oostende | Dinamo București |- !colspan=4|Second qualifying round |- | Utrecht | Panionios | Apollon Limassol | Bnei Yehuda |- | Galatasaray | Astra Giurgiu | Dinamo Brest | Brøndby |- | Luzern | Sturm Graz | Östersund | Aberdeen |- | Mladá Boleslav | Hajduk Split | Brann | Gabala |- !colspan=4|First qualifying round |- | Rheindorf Altach | Ordabasy | VPS | Crusaders |- | Osijek | Botev Plovdiv | Široki Brijeg | Coleraine |- | Jagiellonia Białystok | Levski Sofia | Željezničar Sarajevo | Ballymena United |- | Lech Poznań | Dunav Ruse | Sarajevo | Levadia Tallinn |- | AEK Larnaca | Domžale | Tirana | Nõmme Kalju |- | AEL Limassol | Gorica | Partizani Tirana | Flora Tallinn |- | Shakhtyor Soligorsk | Olimpija Ljubljana | Skënderbeu Korçë | Shirak |- | Dinamo Minsk | Slovan Bratislava | Pelister | Gandzasar Kapan |- | AIK | Ružomberok | Shkëndija | Pyunik |- | IFK Norrköping | Trenčín | Rabotnički | KÍ |- | Odd | Vaduz | Cork City | NSÍ Runavík |- | Haugesund | Ferencváros | Derry City | B36 Tórshavn |- | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Videoton | Shamrock Rovers | Floriana |- | Beitar Jerusalem | Vasas | Ventspils | Balzan |- | Lyngby | Dacia Chișinău | Jelgava | Valletta |- | Midtjylland | Milsami Orhei | Liepāja | Bala Town |- | Rangers | Zaria Bălți | Differdange 03 | Connah's Quay Nomads |- | St Johnstone | Valur | Fola Esch | Bangor City |- | Inter Baku | Stjarnan | Progrès Niederkorn | Lincoln Red Imps |- | Zira | KR | Sutjeska Nikšić | St Joseph's |- | Red Star Belgrade | Torpedo Kutaisi | Zeta | UE Santa Coloma |- | Vojvodina | Chikhura Sachkhere | Mladost Podgorica | Sant Julià |- | Mladost Lučani | Dinamo Batumi | Trakai | Tre Penne |- | Kairat | SJK | Sūduva Marijampolė | Folgore |- | Irtysh Pavlodar | HJK | Atlantas | Prishtina |} Notably two teams take part in the competition that are not playing in their national top division, Tirana (2nd tier) and Vaduz (2nd tier). ;Notes Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise). Matches in the qualifying, play-off, and knockout rounds may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts. Qualifying rounds In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2017 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. First qualifying round The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 19 June 2017, 13:00 CEST, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The first legs were played on 29 June, and the second legs were played on 4 and 6 July 2017. |Dacia Chișinău|MDA|3–0|4–0}} |Ordabasy|KAZ|2–0|0–0}} |'Slovan Bratislava'|SVK|1–4|0–5}} |'Jagiellonia Białystok'|POL|0–1|0–4}} |'Rabotnički'|MKD|0–1|0–6}} |'AEL Limassol'|CYP|0–4|0–6}} |Sarajevo|BIH|2–1|1–2 }} |'Liepāja'|LVA|3–1|0–2}} |SJK|FIN|0–0|2–0}} |'AIK'|SWE|0–0|0–5}} |} ;Notes Second qualifying round The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 19 June 2017, 14:30 CEST (after the completion of the first qualifying round draw), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The first legs were played on 12 and 13 July, and the second legs were played on 20 July 2017. |'Botev Plovdiv'|BUL|1–1|0–4}} |'AEK Larnaca'|CYP|0–1|0–1}} |Zira|AZE|3–1|0–0}} |'Trakai'|LTU|2–1|1–2 }} |} ;Notes Third qualifying round The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 14 July 2017, 13:00 CEST, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The first legs were played on 27 July, and the second legs were played on 2 and 3 August 2017. |'Skënderbeu Korçë'|ALB|2–1|1–2 }} |'Midtjylland'|DEN|3–2|1–2}} |'Videoton'|HUN|2–1|0–1}} |Lech Poznań|POL|0–0|2–2}} |'Zenit Saint Petersburg'|RUS|0–2|1–0}} }} |} ;Notes Play-off round The draw was held on 4 August 2017, 13:00 CEST, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Seeding A total of 44 teams will play in the play-off round: the 29 winners of the third qualifying round, and the 15 losers of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. Prior to the draw the participating teams were placed in two groups with five seeded and five unseeded teams (groups 1–2) and two groups with six seeded and six unseeded teams (groups 3–4), depending on their UEFA club coefficient. (Note: The numbers for each team were pre-assigned by UEFA so that the draw could be held in one run for the groups with ten teams and another run for the groups with twelve teams.) ;Notes Summary The first legs were played on 16 and 17 August, and the second legs were played on 24 August 2017. |Shkëndija|MKD|6–0|1–0}} |'Red Star Belgrade'|SRB|3–2|1–2}} |} ;Notes Group stage The draw for the group stage was held on 25 August 2017, 13:00 CEST, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The 48 teams were drawn into twelve groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on their 2017 UEFA club coefficients. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the round of 32, where they are joined by the eight third-placed teams of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage. The matchdays are 14 September, 28 September, 19 October, 2 November, 23 November, and 7 December 2017. A total of 29 national associations are represented in the group stage. Arsenal, Atalanta, Fastav Zlín, 1899 Hoffenheim, İstanbul Başakşehir, 1. FC Köln, Lugano, Milan, Östersund, Real Sociedad, Red Star Belgrade, Vardar and Vitesse will make their debut appearances in the UEFA Europa League group stage (although Milan and Red Star Belgrade had appeared in the UEFA Cup group stage). Vardar will be the first team from Macedonia to play in either the Champions League or Europa League group stage. Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H Group I Group J Group K Group L Knockout phase In the knockout phase, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows: *In the draw for the round of 32, the twelve group winners and the four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage with the better group records are seeded, and the twelve group runners-up and the other four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other. *In the draws for the round of 16 onwards, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association can be drawn against each other. Round of 32 The draw for the round of 32 will be held on 11 December 2017, 13:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The first legs will be played on 15 February, and the second legs will be played on 22 February 2018. Round of 16 The draw for the round of 16 will be held on 23 February 2018, 13:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The first legs will be played on 8 March, and the second legs will be played on 15 March 2018. Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals will be held on 16 March 2018, 13:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The first legs will be played on 5 April, and the second legs will be played on 12 April 2018. Semi-finals The draw for the semi-finals will be held on 13 April 2018, 13:00 CEST, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The first legs will be played on 26 April, and the second legs will be played on 3 May 2018. Final The 2018 UEFA Europa League Final will be played at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Décines-Charpieu on 16 May 2018. The "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes) will be determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw. |time = 20:45 CEST |team1 = Marseille |score = 0–3 |team2 = Atlético Madrid |goals1 = |goals2 = Griezmann Gabi |stadium = Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Décines-Charpieu |attendance = 55,768 |referee = Björn Kuipers (Netherlands) |report = Report }} Statistics Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round. Note: Players and teams in bold are still active in the competition. Top goalscorers See also *2017–18 UEFA Champions League *2018 UEFA Super Cup External links *UEFA Europa League (official website) 2017-18